


Meet Him Half Way

by ballym



Series: Boys Like Him Don't Shine So Bright [1]
Category: EastEnders (TV)
Genre: M/M, blhdssb, smau
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:28:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23878420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ballym/pseuds/ballym
Summary: To celebrate the finale of BLHDSSB, the first time the boys say 'I love you', this takes place between part 49 and part 50  which can be found on my tumblr
Relationships: Callum "Halfway" Highway/Ben Mitchell
Series: Boys Like Him Don't Shine So Bright [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1720912
Comments: 3
Kudos: 53





	Meet Him Half Way

Everything was going incredibly wrong. Ben had somehow managed to opt-out of a fancy dinner with the man he recently realised was the love of his life, in favour of some romantic gesture in the form of a home-cooked meal and candlelight. He, Ben Mitchell, was going to cook for his chef-boyfriend. The man who complained (only to Ben, of course) that he thought the pasta served in Ramsey’s new restaurant wasn’t al dente enough to be considered traditional. Ben was going to serve up a romantic dinner to a man who _wasn’t a fan_ of Michelin star food. Ben was screwed, and not in an enjoyable way. 

It wasn’t like Ben has never cooked for Callum before. But when he had it had always been a bit of a joke; potato smilies and microwave peas, or a slap-it-in-the-crock-pot-and-hope-for-the-best affair. Ben wasn’t trying to impress until now. He looked over to the pan bubbling away on the stove, and the mess of chopping boards and strainers along the kitchen counter. He’d managed to get everyone out the house but was now wondering whether that was a bad idea and whether he could get away with throwing in the towel and ordering a pizza instead. He decided to call Lola.

The phone was ringing too long, and Ben knew in all seriousness that this meant Lo couldn’t get to the phone or didn’t want to deal with him and that it would end up on voicemail. _“Hey, It’s Lola. If you’re calling about an appointment, please phone the salon. If it’s something else, send me a text.”_

He didn’t really feel like he had time to get into a conversation with her, so opted to simply wait for the beep. “Lo, I’m freaking out, I was trying to follow a recipe cos I’m cooking for Cal tonight but I’m running out of time and I think it might taste awful and I don’t have a refined pallet or whatever like he does so -” The second beep rang out, and cut him off mid-sentence. It was okay, he wasn’t really sure where he was going with it anyway. Then, like a bolt of lightning, he had a genius idea. Or, maybe not _genius_ so to speak, but smart and conniving, which he believed was just as good. He texted Ian;

_HELP_

_COME QUICK_

_FIRE IN YOUR KITCHEN_

Ian was around in minutes, seemingly out of breath. “Where’s the fire?!” He all but yelled.

“What?” Said Ben, smiling. “Oh, that? I put it out. But since you’re here, reckon you could help me with this food?”

Ian sighed, but he wasn’t as angry as he was before. “You know, when I said you couldn’t take him to my restaurant, I didn’t mean you couldn’t take him out to _any_ restaurant?” He leant over the pan, stirred it a little, and scrunched up his nose. What did you put in this?”

“Herbs...spices...salt...all the stuff the recipe says,” Ben replied, stepping back so Ian could see the ingredients laid out on the counter. Ian had recently decanted them into a new spice rack so they were easier to find.

“Ben you idiot, that’s not salt, it’s baking powder. Can’t you tell the difference? This whole thing is going to taste like fish!”

Bens face dropped. “What? No, it can’t! Ian, He's gonna be here in twenty minutes and I haven’t even had a shower!"

“Look, it’s not that big of a deal -”

“- _Not that big of a deal?!_ Ian, how am I meant to proclaim my love to the man of my dreams if I can’t cook a simple dinner for him?! He’ll think I’m useless!”

Ian began moving pots around on the hob and clearing the messy countertop. “Look, you go take a shower, I’ll get rid of this, and start cooking something you can’t botch up, yeah? I’ve got some fresh herbs somewhere so I’ll make a pasta sauce, just...get away from my kitchen, yeah?”

Ben nodded, and made his way upstairs, smirking as he heard the gas hob start up again, and his personal chef begin to cook a meal that he was definitely going to take credit for.

After a while, Ben had finished getting himself ready and was quite proud of the way he’d kept his shirt crisp after ironing, and flattened his hair so he looked just smart enough that it was clear he had made an effort, yet his top button was undone and he sleeve rolled to suggest that he was comfortable, and had perhaps gotten hot slaving away in the kitchen. 

Ian had shown him the sauce that he needed to keep on a low heat, and how the pasta would need to go in when Callum arrived, then he wished him good luck, told him not to lie about any pyrotechnics in the future, and left to go back to the restaurant.

With everything going well in the kitchen, Ben laid the table, then tried to dim the lights to create some mood lighting, only to find that the dimmer had been removed when Ian had redecorated last, and Ben had just thrown the room into semi-darkness.

“Shit.” He mumbled under his breath, before switching the lights back on, and rooting around for some kind of candle he could use to make the room just that little bit more romantic. At the back of a dresser, he found a box of glass candles which, while they weren’t typically matching, so to speak, he thought would do just fine. In his opinion, a candle was a candle, and he didn’t really believe Callum would care all that much anyway. He wondered whether he should have bought flowers and whether wine might have been a better idea, over the six-pack he’d picked up on his way over.

Ben was just starting to spiral when there was a knock at the door. He looked at the clock; Callum was early. Five minutes, but still.

Ben opened the door to find Callum there, ready to lean down and kiss him gently, his hands fitting neatly around the back of Ben’s head.

“Evening,” He said cheekily as they pulled apart.

“I brought wine.” Callum grinned, “I wasn’t sure what we were doing but smells like...something?” He said, scrunching his nose. “I also brought you flowers,” He said, producing a bouquet from his bag, “because you know I’m the best boyfriend, right?”

Ben laughed, “Er, no, I think best boyfriend award goes to the man who single-handedly is cooking the best pasta you’ll ever eat.”   
“Better than Gordons?” Callum laughs as Ben walks through to the kitchen with the flowers, and he hung up his coat.

“Especially better than Gordons...That being said, d’ya mind helping me? I wanna get the pasta how you like it, and don’t exactly know...how?”

Callum laughed, “Well you get a gold star for effort, but inviting me round to cook my own dinner? Ben Mitchell, you continue to amaze me.” He wrapped his arm around Ben's waist, “Here, I’ll show you. This is dried pasta, yeah? So no more than seven minutes. It’s got to crunch a little.”

Ben blushed and twisted in Callum's arm, so he was facing him, looking up through his eyelashes. “So I invite you round to cook your own dinner, and you don’t even cook it through?”

“It’s traditional!” Callum laughed, “Honestly, ask Ian, he’ll know, that being said, I’m not completely convinced you didn’t have help with that sauce bubbling away over there...I’ll let it go though, on account of your good looks and charm.”

Callum faced away from Ben, so he could continue to work on the pasta, “The key is saving the pasta water and putting a little in the sauce - though I'm sure Ian told you that.” He chuckled to himself.

Ben couldn’t help but smile. He didn’t know what to do with himself, he just knew he’d struck gold with Callum, and he was so scared of messing up again.

They took their plates over to the table and sat down. As soon as they did, the atmosphere seemed to change. All of a sudden Bens nerves were rising as he realised that he was actually going to have to be vulnerable in order for it to go well.

The silence was deafening as Ben watched Callum take the first bite, and exaggerate chewing, before swallowing. “Mmm,” He said, trying to make Ben smile, “Al dente.” He then frowned, Ben wasn’t really reacting to him, but Ben’s heart was thudding in his chest. He just felt like he was going to be so wrong about it all. Who was he to lay it all on the line anyway? They’d barely even begun dating, and he’d acted like a prick for most of it. He was stupid to think that Callum would feel the same way. 

“Ben, is something wrong?” Callum asked, cautious.

“No.” He said firmly, “I just have to tell you something. About us.”

“...Us?” Callum frowned, swallowing the food in his mouth.

“Yeah, I just, I had been putting off saying it, but I spoke to Lola and Ian and Jay and Lou and they all said they didn’t think I should keep it from you, that you deserved to know…”

“Ben,” Callum said, nervous. “What’s going on?”

“I just thought, it might make it easier, you know? Over a nice dinner? And I thought originally I should tell you over a fancy dinner but then they said maybe it should be a more, you know, in private, personal thing. So I decided to make you dinner instead.” He breathed, working up the courage and completely unaware of the way his words were translating to Callum. “It’s just, I think I’ve felt this way for a long time, and don’t want to keep you in the dark, you know?”

‘Look, Ben, I get that you’re trying to be all courteous or whatever, making dinner and all, but I’d rather you were just honest with me. I get that we’re not one hundred percent compatible, but that’s why I like you, there's some bite there that excites me. It’s not all _pleases_ and _thank you’s_ all the time, you know? You can tell me why you’re mad and we can sort it out, yeah?”

Ben frowned, face blank. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I’m saying don’t try to break up with me right now. If that’s what you’re trying to say, don’t. That’s not what I want, okay?” Callum was avoiding eye contact, instead choosing to stare down at his fork, which was all of a sudden the most interesting thing in the room. 

Ben couldn’t help but laugh. “You’ve got it all wrong.”

“What do you mean?” Callum choked, “Are you listening to yourself? Something to tell me, about us?!”

‘What I’m trying to say, Cal is that I was an idiot. Like a real jerk of a person, and I wasn’t even angry about it, I was just...passive going through life just doing whatever and not caring who is affected, and that my daughter was seeing me like that, all dismissive and thinking that that’s an okay thing to be. And then I met you,” He glanced up at Callum, meeting his gaze, “and everything changed. It’s like my view on life shifted, and I knew, even if you were straight, or didn’t like me like that or whatever, that I wanted you around me. You make me a better person. And then you kissed me and I didn’t know what to think, I was so scared of messing it up because that’s what I do all the time, mess things up. I never used to care, and now all of a sudden I care all the time because that’s what you’ve done to me. You make me see the worth and the weight of my actions. Just seeing you brightens my day, and I’m constantly trying to work out ways of making you smile because getting to see that just warms me up inside.”

Ben smiled, calmer now. “What I’m trying to say is that I don’t want you to be scared a switch is gonna flip, and I’m gonna hate you because it’s not possible. Callum, I’m in love with you. I want you to know that.” He let out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding. 

Blushing gently, Ben looked to Callum to see his response.

“You make my heart do backflips.” Whatever Ben was expecting, it wasn’t that.

“I’m...sorry?” He asks gently, almost scared for an explanation.

“You...no, shit -” Callum stumbled on his words, “Shit, you just said this, this really lovely thing and it was all going so well and I was so stressed and well…” he trailed off, “I mean, when I so much as see you, I just go crazy; my heart doesn’t know what to do with itself I just-” 

“Hey it’s, okay,” Ben said, frowning. He’d been beating himself up with the worst-case-scenario but Callum was truly worrying him, it wasn’t that what Cal was saying wasn’t sweet, because it was, it just wasn’t the words he needed to hear.

“No, it’s not okay,” Callum said, breathing a little steadier now. “I love you too. Not too; my love isn’t dependant on yours. I love you. I’m in love with you, whether you like it or not. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Ben smiled, the kind of smile he only let Lexi see. “Well, I’m not going anywhere either.”

Callum grinned and gently wrapped his hand around the back of Ben’s neck pulling him in gently. Ben closed his eyes and leant forward meeting Callum halfway, in a kiss that put any other to shame. They tried, despite the awkward angle and the table digging in, to move closer, deeper, but Ben couldn’t help but break away and laugh.

“What?” Said Callum, he was frowning, but the corners of his lips were turned up in a way that suggested nothing Ben could say would ruin the moment for him.

“No, no,” Ben laughed, “it’s nothing, it’s just, you make my heart do backflips, too.”

“Are you going to tell Lo about me saying that?” Callum asked, blushing.

Ben snorted, “Probably”, and then leant in to kiss his boyfriend, who he loved and who loved him, one more time.

**Author's Note:**

> Welp! I hope you enjoyed! I love you all and thank you for sticking with me for so long! <3


End file.
